Flesh to Metal Version 1 Part 2
by Tactition101
Summary: Even with Unicron captured, there is always trouble. Starting with a crashed prisoner ship. Rated T for safety
1. Chapter 1

1\. Just Another Day At The Office

Story Start: One And A Half Years After Part One Location: Unit E Headquarters

Pilots scrambled to their planes as I taxied down a runway and took off, three Skystriker V2s joining me, one of them taking flight lead as soon as we were in the air. Thirty seconds after lift-off a ground bridge portal opened ahead of us and we shot through. Coming out over jungle land, we kept along the heading we came out of and my radio came on as one of my squad mates let out a sigh and said "Ah the wonderful Vietnam peninsula. Home to absolutely horrid humidity, the most _delightful_ parasitic insects, oh and the Neo Vietcong who would just love to shoot us down. You bring us to the nicest places Bravo 1."

"Keep the chatter down Bravo 4. I know it's not the best assignment but patrolling these skies is an important task." The flight lead said calmly and I could practically feel the pilot rolling his eyes towards Bravo 4.

"Right, because patrolling Vietnam while the third coming of Operation Desert Storm takes place over Saudi Arabia as we speak is the best use of our talents. Honestly, the whole planet's stuck in World War III and yet we're out here in the middle of nowhere on the off chance that some jungle brats might try to take a shot at us so that we can take out their revealed antiaircraft guns." Bravo 4 huffed.

"Could be worse, we could be flying over Antarctica right now." Bravo 2 sent, the pilot's head on a swivel as he followed Bravo 1.

All three of us could hear the shiver in Bravo 4's voice as she said "True that, if we never have to fly a mission down there again it will be too soon."

"Agreed." The rest of us, even Bravo 1 said over the radio before the flight fell silent as we started our patrol duties. The airwaves were silent for the next ten minutes before instruments began beeping and Bravo 1 came over the radio as he said "Head's up, contacts at twelve o'clock high. Range sixty miles."

A moment later we were in sight and Bravo 2 said "Guys, is that two Cybertronian warships I see in front of us?"

"Sure looks like it." I said.

"Well I'll be dipped." Bravo 1 said before more contacts began pouring out of the two ships and he said "Enemy fighters scrambling, whatever the cons want out here they're not willing to let us interfere. Bravo 2, you and I will go left, Bravos 3 and 4 take right. Bravo 3 get on the horn with Base and request immediate back up. Whatever the cons want we can't let them get it so take out the warships' engines as soon as possible."

"Roger." We all said before splitting in groups, me sending our coordinates and a request for immediate back up even as I rocketed towards the silver seekers headed my way. Bravo 4 and I quickly closed and it wasn't long before we were trading fire, Bravo 4's upgraded guns shooting energon bolts from blasters positioned under the airplane's more mundane cannons. We both scored hits on a few of the seekers, only three of which exploded, before we were in the cloud of tangos and my focus tightened to ten miles around me in order to keep me alive better. We fought our way to the ship's stern and I sent over the radio "Bravo 4, take out the engines once I've cleared the air."

"Roger Bravo 3." Bravo 4 said and my blasters fired taking out seekers in front of me while my three Hughes missiles took out the stragglers that were on my sides. Immediately after four missiles came out of Bravo 4's fuselage and slammed into the engines in a spread that would do maximum damage. Secondary explosions caused even more damage and the war ship began going down. Which was all well and good except for the fact its guns were still blazing at us along with the Seekers in the air with us.

We furiously dogfought for a minute before salvation came in the form of three more four man Skystriker V2 squadrons that split up to help Bravo flight. With more friendlies in the area, the pressure was taken off of us and we began actually pushing back the Decepticons long enough to do more damage to the warship, the squadron that had joined us taking out the gun emplacements with their missiles. With the guns out of play the warship became nothing but scenery, allowing us to put our full focus on the Seekers and fifteen minutes later the skies were clear.

As the four squadrons regrouped and began circling over the burning wreckages, I sighed and sent over the coms "This is going to take forever to clean up, and we still have the cons in the warships to deal with."

"Not for long we don't. Everyone pull back, Echo 2 was given fuel-air bombs for exactly this purpose after we got your message." Echo leader said and if I was in bot mode my eyes would have widened at that even as Bravo 1 said "Right, everyone clear the area!"

We quickly got out of dodge before the missiles were sent and the ships exploded in rather violent fireballs. Good luck to anyone surviving that. Still.

"Let's hope at least one data station on those things survived, or we'll have a rather hard time figuring out what the Cons were doing in 'Nam." I said with a mental frown.

"That's something for the techies to worry about when they get here." Leo leader sent over.

Time Skip: Thirty Minutes Later

Bravo squad flew out of a ground bridge portal over Unit E's airfield. As they came in for a vertical landing they were joined by two of the three reinforcement squadrons. The hatches of Bravo squadron popped up and the world around them turned to white.

Scene Change: Unit E's Simulator Hanger

I closed the simulation program and watched Special Agents Fowler, Darby, and Nakadai pop open the hatches of their simulators, Miko stretching her arms out as she said "Man, I thought that was just going to be a standard patrol, those cons came out of nowhere!"

"Yeah, I wasn't expecting them to be part of the simulation we had going. I mean, there's already World War III going on in there, adding the cons seems a bit much." Jack said as he stepped out of the cockpit.

"Always expect the unexpected kids, even in the simulators. I've learned that the hard way working with the bots." Agent Fowler said even as he glanced at me.

Said simulators were the product of Ratchet and Raphael working together with a mini-Forge supercharging the final products. For the last week, we had been using their simulator programs to train in a world that had once more erupted into a global war. The cons showing up during a patrol instead of the expected rebooted Vietcong had been an interesting surprise though.

"Well, now that the fun's part over, time for some chow!" Miko said, her stomach rumbling in agreement causing Jack to chuckle.

"Food does sound good right now." He said as he looked to his supervising officer.

Said agent checked his watch and nodded as he said "Debrief is in an hour, go get some food."

"Yes!" Miko said before she dragged Jack after her to go eat. I shook my head as Agent Fowler and I followed the two young adults out of the building's entrance. Five steps out, my form shifted as I grew to my normal height and I split off from the group to enter the building Ratchet and Raphael had claimed for themselves and so generously allowed me to stay in.

I found the two hunched over a piece of tech that looked like a grappling hook on steroids two times taller than the human member of the tech gremlins with wickedly sharp points on the claw ends and as I walked over I said "Dropping the cons on us without warning like that wasn't very nice Raf."

Said teenager looked up from his work with a grin and said "I thought it would be a good change of pace from dealing with the Arabs for five days straight."

I gave the fifteen-year-old (Fifteen and three-quarters!) a look that if I was still human would have fit quite well on a Vulcan causing the kid to let out a slightly nervous chuckle. (And he will always be a kid even when he's ninety years old if he continues to hang around Ratchet whose age was measured with commas separating some of the numbers) Ratchet looked up from where he was welding something inside the Grappler and said "How realistic were the Seeker flight patterns? We did our best to get them right but you have a lot more experience fighting them in the air."

"All told they were pretty realistic. There was one seeker that flew more like a pilot from the Vietnam War then a Cybertronian but considering he had one engine smoking that wasn't much of a surprise." I said before I gestured at the grappler and said "Do I even want to know what kind of monster you two intend to put that thing on?"

"It's going on one of NASA's newest satellites. Halley's comet will be at the closest point to Earth on its path in two months and they want to document the comet's path and everything around it. This grapple will allow the satellite to latch on once its close enough, reel it in, and keep it in place until the comet comes back around and is replaced with another satellite in 75 to 76 years." Raf said as he bolted a panel shut and began working on another open section.

Well that was yet another difference between this dimension and my original dimension. Halley's comet wasn't set to arrive at my original Earth until 2062. Shaking my head of the distracting thought, I said "Three quarters of a century? That satellite's going to need a long battery life, even with solar energy collectors. Hope NASA uses a Duracell."

Ratchet let out a short bark of laughter at that even as Raphael chuckled at the joke. Any further conversation was cut off as my com activated and I heard "Tac? It's June, can you come to the Infirmary? There's something I would like your input on."

"The hell?" I asked in confusion before I put a finger to my com and said "Sure thing June, I'll be right there." Looking to the other two, I said "Well duty calls."

"See ya Tac." Raf said while Ratchet waved a hand at me as he continued to weld.

Two minutes later, I transformed out of my 2007 GMC Topkick 6500 vehicle mode (Yes, the same truck as Ironhide had in the Transformers movie, I thought it was amusing to scan one of them one day) and shrunk back down to human size before walking into the infirmary as I said "What do you need June?"

"I need your access to Starscream's memories to tell me just what the hell I've been looking at today." Said nurse said as she looked at a screen that was connected to a high-powered electron microscope which in turn was looking at a large piece of metal that had a partial Decepticon emblem on it. Both items were in a containment chamber and Nurse Darby had Personal Protection Equipment on like she was in Lab Class again. Cocking my head in curiosity, I walked over and said "Let me take a gander." Wirelessly jacking into the electronic microscope, I continued "What's the story here?"

"Well, you know how Unit E's been going over the buried front end section of the Harbinger with a fine-toothed comb to see if anything there was anything there we could use?"

"Yes, for the past six months if I recall after they picked clean the much more easily accessible tail end, what of it?" I asked even as I frowned as I picked up a strange energy residue reading on the microscope.

"Well one of the labs seemed to deal with creating an organism that eats metal."

"And they brought it here?!" I asked in alarm looking at her incredulously. Scrappers were bad enough, but microorganisms that did the same?! We'd be lucky if we had a base left standing by the end of the day if it got free and started multiplying.

Nurse Darby waved a hand at the case and said "They irradiated that plate in five different types of radiation before bringing it here, and that's on top of whatever the Cons did to make it inert when they canceled the program. It is well and truly dead. That's not what I wanted you to look at though." Taking the equipment off, she walked further into the infirmary and I severed the link with the microscope before following. We came to a container as big as her that held a dark brownish liquid that looked a little sluggish and she said "We found a corpse in another one of the labs but an autopsy showed that he had some seriously weird Energon in him. I think he was experimenting with the stuff and used himself as a test subject. I wanted to see if Starscream knew anything about it before I dragged Ratchet away from his and Raf's NASA project." She patted the tank holding said fuel.

I studied the energon for a minute with a frown as I said "Nothing's popping up to me but let me do a more thorough scan of my drives." I closed my optics and did a thorough scan, searching through Starscream's memories of inspecting the crash and of what he had known had been housed on the Harbinger. Starscream may not have known about the Immobilizer but he might have known about any variations of Energon that was known of at the time the Harbinger was in service. And what do you know, he did know, but it wasn't what I expected. I opened my eyes and winced as I said "Oh yeah, he knew about it alright, nasty stuff you've got there."

"What is it?" Nurse Darby asked in curiosity.

"That, my favorite Nurse, is what happens when a Cybertronian indulges in too much of a certain chemical that was popular eons ago to put in their energon injections. Quite simply, you're looking at a drug addict's blood. I'm talking high level stuff that would make the most insane acid trip seem like a walk through the park, that stuff was POTENT. I recommend you wheel that case through the space bridge and dump it in the sun because Ratchet would probably have a fit if he learns it's on the base." I said giving another wince as I looked at the very much polluted Energon.

June blinked once and said "Huh, can't say I was expecting that for your answer. Ratchet's brush with the first variation of his Synth-En formula aside, I didn't even know Cybertronians even had the capacity to get addicted to anything."

"Not surprising since war-time is hardly a good time to get a fix. Still, this guy must have gone through quite a bit of the stuff for his Energon to get that bad." I said with a frown.

"Well in any case, I'll start the preparations to dispose of it all since it's clearly not something you want to have lying around, thanks Tac." June said giving the murky substance one last glance before she moved towards a computer to begin filing the necessary forms to use the Space Bridge for HMD, or Hazardous Material Disposal.

"Anytime June." I said before I began walking out. Shaking my head as I shifted back to my normal height, I muttered to myself "Just another day at the office."

FIN

Author's Notes: Thought I would show how things have been going on since the end of the movie. Second chapter is a time skip to Pilot Episode for Robots In Disguise.


	2. Chapter 2

2\. Beginning Of A New Chapter

Location Unit E, Three Years After Unicron's Capture

I ran into the main communication center of the base, Ratchet right behind me and all of the humans who had been members of Team Prime and two Unit E fire teams already inside as the Medic-bot said "Raphael, what is the situation?"

Raphael looked up and adjusted his glasses as he said "Ten minutes ago we picked up an emergency broadcast from an Autobot prisoner ship, listen to this." He hit a button on the computer he was sitting in front of and the group heard "Mayday, mayday. Cybertron control, if you can hear me, this is Maximum Security Prison Ship Alchemor. We have crashed on an unknown planet. Many of the containment pods were disengaged, but the one I can see still appears to be intact so I'm hopeful none of the prisoners have…uh control, updating that last report, it seems there's a good chance the prisoners have escaped, please send immediate help to these coordinates."

Raph brought up a map where the coordinates were and he said "The coordinates are practically right by a place called Crown City. I've already forwarded the message to Cybertron but I get the feeling it'll take them time to get a response team here. The Cybertronian I spoke to seemed to be under the impression there was already a team of Autobots here due to the use of the Space Bridge to contact them though they seemed surprised that there was an Autobot presence on this planet at all."

"Which means we're most likely on our own for the next few hours to maybe a few days, if not even longer." I said with a frown.

"Regardless of how long it takes for Cybertron to send back up, we need to move quickly. Raphael, open a bridge, let's roll out." Ratchet said and Raphael nodded before he made a quick set of key strokes before hopping out of his seat, his armor forming even as he ran to a nearby ladder and slid down it, the techno whiz joining his teammates as the three human teams followed Ratchet and me through the now open Ground Bridge.

Scene Change: Alchemor's Crash Site

The three fire teams minus Raphael wasted no time in setting up a perimeter, their armor's com systems kept open so that they could be kept in the loop while at the same time keeping the ones talking safe. The minicon stared at the armored humans in surprise for a moment before Raphael, Ratchet, and I approached him and he stared for a whole other reason as Ratchet and I shrunk down to our human sizes and Ratchet said "We got your message Minicon, name, position, and report if you'd please."

The Minicon saluted and said "Helmsman Fixit sir, I've reconned the crash site and we're missing most of the stasis cells, several nearby have ruptured, their inmates are presumably at large."

"Do we have an exact number?" I asked.

"Two hundred and sixteen at last co-con-cone, COUNT I believe." Fixit said, flubbing one of the words before he wacked himself and got the proper word out.

"Well that's not good." Raphael said and Ratchet and I both nodded even as Ratchet scanned Fixit before pulling out his Mini-Forge and tapped Fixit with it, the mini con glowing white for an instant before returning to normal, no obvious changes on the outside meaning Ratchet's focus had been the inside.

"Wow, I feel a lot more efficient. Whatever you did, I thank you." Fixit said before he shook his head and pointed at one of the nearby stasis chambers and said "In fact this is the only pod still intact!" The stasis pod chose that time to start rolling around as the occupant inside began banging at it and he continued "And its cryo-stasis mechanism may be a wee bit damaged too."

"Right then, let's get to work people." I said before I grew to my bigger size and pointed at each group as I said "Fixit, you and Raphael try to repair as many of the stasis pods as you can, if that intact pod will remain intact then wait until you've got a few other pods ready before you start on it. Alpha Team, I want two members to stay here to guard them. The rest of you will be on over watch air patrol. Bravo Team, you have the west while Charlie Team has the East. Split up into teams of two and track down those prisoners, and if they don't surrender peacefully lethal force is authorized. Make sure you tag any intact stasis pods you find for later pick up. Ratchet, you take the North and I'll take the South."

The Teams all gave their confirmations before everyone barring Jack and June shot up into the air using their Armors' Flight tech and Ratchet nodded his own approval of the plan before he took a large leap into the air before transforming into his helicopter mode. I shot up after him and shifted into an Apache gun ship before the two of us split up to track down our escaped prisoners.

Time Skip: Forty Five Minutes

It was becoming increasingly clear that the only Decepticons who hadn't high tailed it away from the crash site as fast as possible were the stupid ones. Bravo team had tagged two while Charlie had gotten three. Ratchet had gotten one while I had got five so far. All of them were the 'muscle bound punch the problem until it's no longer a problem' type and so had chosen to make a stand. The rest were unfortunately quickly out of our sensors' reach. I was tracking the last signal I had on my scanners and landed in a quarry where I transformed to track him down by foot.

Or at least that was the plan. Unfortunately, just after I took my first step, I heard the sound of loose rock moving and I spun around with my right gun drawn. Seeing only rocks, I used my full range of sensors before I let out an explosive sigh and lowered my gun as I said "That'll teach me to only scan for Cybertronian life forms while on a mission near a populated area. Come on out kid, I'm not going to hurt you."

There was a moment where nothing changed before a kid about thirteen years old stepped out from behind a rock near the end of the quarry. He slowly walked towards me as he said "What are you?"

Smirking behind my face shield at actually being able to say a version of this famous line, I said "I am Tac, an autonomous robotic organism from the planet Cybertron." I narrowed my eyes and said "And right now, I'm hunting down an escaped prisoner that's in the direct vicinity of this place so it's not safe for you to be here."

"You got that right Autobot." Said prisoner said as he entered the quarry with a growl.

I turned around and took in the sight of the dog like prisoner and as Starscream's memories provided a classification for it, my expression fell flat as I said "Oh great, a Chompazoid."

"Heh, heh, that's right. The name's Underbite, have ya heard of me?" Said metal eater asked as he walked further into the quarry towards us.

Starscream's memories once more provided the needed info as I said "You're the reason Nuon City's no longer shown on any maps."

"That's right, and after the long trip I've had I'm feeling a bit puckish. An Autobot ought to solve that problem nicely don'cha think?" The Chompazoid said as it continued to stalk towards us.

"Maybe, but I'm curious about something, did you eat the sound the city made as well?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Wha-?" Underbite started to ask in confusion only to be blasted away with a yell by my Resonance Blaster. However, I could only shoot a quick burst at him before the human gave a loud shout of pain and I spun around to see him on his knees with his hands clapped over his ears. I frowned in concern at him before moving my eyes around and let out a tsking sound as I said "The rocks of the quarry are echoing the sound too much for organic hearing to handle." I turned back to face Underbite as my sonic weapon dropped back down into my right arm and I narrowed my optics as I said "The sonic blowback of a missile detonating would cause the same problem. Looks like I've got to deal with you old school style." I drew my right pistol and my left sword as I finished speaking.

"Now see, that's the difference between you Autobots and we Decepticons, we just don't care about who gets hurt in our fights!" Underbite said as he rolled over onto his feet and charged us.

I fired a single shot before my sensors picking up a new contact heading for us fast had my head jerking up just in time to see a familiar jet shooting down before it turned into another Cybertronian who let out a yell as he drew a pair of swords off its back. The Decepticon only had enough time to look up in confusion before the other guy was on top of him and then rolling towards me and the kid into a crouch, the Chompazoid's body falling to the ground as its head bounced away a couple of times.

The other figure stood up from its crouch and sheathed its swords at the same time as his face mask retracted. Smirking at me, he said "Hey kid, been a while."

"Wheeljack!" I called happily as my own face shield retracted and I stowed my weapons as I ran over the few steps separating us and gave him a quick hug as I said "What are you doing here?"

"You didn't think the rest of the team would stay on Cybertron when we heard you guys had trouble brewing would you?" The Wrecker asked with a grin before looking past me and towards the human as he said "So who's the kid?"

"No idea, we just met." I said as I turned around to look at him as well.

"Uh, I'm Russel." The kid said still staring at us, his eyes briefly glancing at the headless chompazoid before quickly looking back at us, not that I could blame the kid.

"Well then Russel, you're going to have to join us for a little bit. We're supposed to bring any human who sees us to one of the human members of Unit E so that they can properly explain things and have you sign nondisclosure papers."

"You mean like what they do for the Stargate Program?" Russel asked with wide eyes.

"Good analogy." I said with a nod even as I took a couple of steps and kneeled down while offering my hand to him. Russel quickly scrabbled onto my hand and I lifted him up. I took only long enough to call in for a ground bridge directly under the Chompazoid's body which brought it to Unit E's disposal area before Wheeljack and I shifted into our YF-12 forms and shot back towards the Alchemor's crash site. It was time for a reunion.

Scene Change: The Alchemor's Crash Site

Wheeljack and I did a quick flyby over the crash site and I was mentally smirking at the woah the sight drew from Russel. We came in low and transformed mid-air, our boot thrusters gently dropping us and I gently placed Russel down on the ground before giving some of the other Autobots there a grin and said "My, aren't you guys a sight for sore eyes."

Said guys were Bulkhead, Bumblebee, Arcee, each of them with their human partners happily standing with them, and Smokescreen. Also counted with the new group of arrivals were an unknown pair of Cybertronians, a Predacon and a blue and white fem that seemed to be suffering from hero worship overload as she practically vibrated in place with an excited look in her optics.

"It's good to see you again as well Tac." Arcee said with a grin even as Bulkhead walked over and gave me a giant bear hug that had me oofing, much to the amusement of Wheeljack who chuckled at the sight. When Bulkhead finally dropped me, both Bumblebee and Smokescreen gave me a warrior's hand shake and I nodded to the other two and said "So who are the new guys?"

Bumblebee gestured the Fem over and said "Tac, this is Strongarm, she's the ride-along police cadet I've been training for the last month."

"It is such an honor to meet the Autobot who killed Megatron sir." Said policewoman in training said with a crisp salute earning a raised eyebrow motion from me even as I mirrored the salute.

The Predacon then walked forward and gave a fist over spark salute with a small respectful bow on top of that as he said "And I am called Steel Wing, Brother Tac. Skyrunner sends his regards and belief that I may offer you as much support as you shall need for this mission."

I nodded and said "Glad to have you Steel Wing." Looking at everyone, I said "I'm guessing Optimus and Ultra Magus aren't here because having a Prime and his second in command leave the planet so suddenly would cause quite a stir."

"Yep, the Boss and Commander are unfortunately stuck in bureaucratic sink holes right now so I'm afraid you'll have to get by with just us." Wheeljack said with a smirk.

"Oh trust me, with six more Cybertronians joining Unit E's field teams, and four of them who have spent time here already at that, I think we can manage." Agent Fowler said as he walked over. When he was beside me and Russel, he frowned and said "I'm not happy about having to deal with a civilian kid in our midst though. What were you doing so far from Crown City son?"

Russel nervously rubbed the back of his head as he said "Well you see, I'm staying with my dad who owns a scrap yard outside of the city while my mom's gone for work reasons. The news mentioned a meteor and I went searching for it."

"And wound up right at ground zero of the little dust up me and Wheeljack had with a Chompazoid Decepticon." I finished with a frown.

"Sounds familiar." Jack said also with a frown on his face.

"We're not putting another kid in danger, not like last time." Arcee said with a much more severe frown than either of ours on her face.

"Agreed, as useful as you kids were in the early days, that was before Unit E could field human agents along with our Cybertronian comrades thanks to our Armor suits. There is absolutely no reason to put a civilian in harm's way." Fowler said with crossed arms, June walking over to stand by her semi-boyfriend with a nod, her arms crossed as well.

"None of us are saying we should enlist the kid into Unit E's ranks." Bumblebee said soothingly with a hand raised before he glanced down at said kid and continued "Let's just make sure he knows not to talk about what he's seen and then make sure he gets back to his dad's place safely."

"Might be a good idea to see if his father would allow us to use the scrap yard as a staging area for any more operations we run in the area." A member of Charlie team offered. All of the Autobots and most of the humans around us shot the man incredulous looks. Seeing them, he said "What? Can you honestly tell me that we AREN'T going to have to run more ops in this area until we find all of the prisoners that are most likely going to go underground in the city? For all we know part of the prisoner ship could have broken off in entry and landed in the nearby bay and no one knows because it's cloaking system is still intact."

Everyone considered that and Agent Fowler sighed as he said "It really should but that would not surprise me if that turned out to be the case."

Rubbing my forehead, I glanced at Ratchet and said "You're the senior Bot here Ratchet, what do you think?"

Ratchet frowned and said "I would prefer not to get any more civilians involved in this but Agent Anderson is right, we most likely will have to continue operating in this area until we can ensure all of the prisoners have been recaptured. And basing out of a scrap yard rather than some-where in the city or bringing in prefab buildings _would_ be more low key."

"Then it's decided, we'll see if the kid's dad is willing to let us hang out for a while." Miko said with a grin, the thought of taking a look around the scrap yard to see what interesting trinkets she could find making her excited.

Everyone looked around at the others but no one seemed to really have an objection so without further ado, all of the Autobots transformed into our land based vehicular modes, Steel Wing turning into a dragon that looked like a giant mech version of the Night Fury from the How To Train Your Dragon series, and all of the humans piled into the vehicles before heading out, Russel once more riding with me as he gave directions to the his dad's scrap yard. It was going to be an interesting conversation to be sure.


	3. Chapter 3

3\. Meeting The Big Bad Wolf

Story Start: Unit E's Forward Base Charlie, Crown City Scrap Yard

The conversation with Russel's dad, Denny, went about as well as expected. He easily agreed to allowing Unit E to keep a rapid response team and the Autobots on his property, the not so little amount of money said government group would pay him no doubt making it a very easy choice, and Raphael and Ratchet quickly had a 'primitive' but highly efficient command center erected out of both parts from the Alchemor's crash site and tech from Unit E's main base. Honestly, I don't know why they were complaining about currently not being able to open the Space Bridge to Cybertron directly from Charlie Base, it wasn't like anything short of a foot hold situation would pop up that would require them to bypass Unit E Headquarters all together, and even if that DID happen then we were all capable of going into orbit straight to the Space Bridge anyway.

Moving on, while Ratchet and Raphael walked Fixit through all of the new gizmos and gadgets, Bumblebee had for some reason decided to see just how good Strongarm was in hand to hand combat and asked me to spar with her which led to me currently feeling like Kakashi fighting Naruto during Team 7's first bell test. Case in point, as Strongarm came in with a yell and a blatant as hell right hook, I stepped to the side, grabbed her wrist and judo threw her to the edge of our quickly drawn out circle. Shaking my head, I said "Strongarm, what the _scrap_ are your combat instructors teaching you? War cries are NOT an effective technique to cover up the fact that even a bot with both optics torn out could read your punches. I don't care if your name has the word strong in it, if you can't hit a person than all of that power is useless."

"S-sorry Tac sir." Strongarm said as she got to her feet and retook her position yet again.

Sighing, I said "Alright, let's try this the other way, defend yourself!"

"Wait, what?" Strongarm asked in panic as my boot thrusters fired and I began to literally run circles around the rookie. As she struggled to continuously keep me in her optics, Bumblebee called into the ring "Strongarm! He's trying to disorient you, use your audio receptors, not your optics! Keep calm and wait for the sound of his pace to change."

"Y-yes sir!" Strongarm said planting her feet and trying to judge where I was going to come in from.

Normally I would have gone for her back, but this wasn't a true combat scenario and so I decided to go for trickster rather than efficient. Right as I came into the center of her sight line, I fired both boot thrusters at once and shot up high enough that the sun hid me from view for a few seconds before I came down in with a punishing axe kick. Strongarm let out a panicked yelp as she rolled out of the way only to let out an 'Oomph!' as I immediately went into a breakdance like low kick that connected and sent her tumbling further. I only gave her enough time to get her feet under herself before I sent a half speed punch at her. She hastily blocked the punch only to barely block my follow up pair of right snap kicks. I pushed her in a wide circle with a variety of half speed punches and kicks before when we made a full circuit dropped low and swept her legs out from under her and flowed into an axe kick, stopping bare inches over her wide optics.

Withdrawing the foot, I stood up and offered my hand as I said "You're lucky Bee asked me to test you and not Wheeljack, he would have let that last one hit."

As Strongarm accepted the hand with still wide optics, Wheeljack scoffed and said "You're being a little too soft, after all, you didn't seem to have a problem when I was training you Kid."

I shrugged and said "Yeah, but we were part of a team that was outnumbered a hundred to one during war time, I didn't have the option of being brought to full combat readiness the soft way. Strongarm's law enforcement though, that's a slightly different level of risk."

Wheeljack shrugged and said "Eh, fair enough." He then gained a savage grin as he stalked forward with his swords drawn and said "Now let the rookie take a break so I can see how rusty you've gotten."

I snorted as Strongarm wisely left the ring as quickly as possible without running, all but hiding behind her superior officer. Drawing my own blades, I said "If anyone's getting rusty it's you, old man."

"Say that after you eat at the dirt café." Wheeljack said with a smirk before his face shield snapped over his mouth and he rushed me, our swords singing as I deflected the first swing and my own face shield activated.

Time Skip: An Hour Later

Strongarm had that Fan Girl look in her optics again as we all made our way to Fixit's new work station after the Mini Con called us over. I did my best to ignore it as I said "Got something for us already?"

Fixit nodded and said "Now that Ratchet and Raphael have replaced the damaged equipment, our search equipment has located a cluster of fugitive signals near here and they appear to be in intact stasis pods as well."

"Guess we missed a few in our rush to get the ones that were already out." Jack said with a frown.

"Then let's go get them." Miko said with a grin.

"Hang on guys, we're picking up a distress signal I think you should hear." Raphael said from his own station and pushed a button allowing the call to sound on speakers.

"Mayday, mayday, this is Captain of oil tanker Windward, off coast of Crown City. We are under attack by what appears to be a shark, but it's bigger than any I've seen, and it looks to be made of metal."

"Decepticon." Strongarm said snapping completely out of her hero worship and straight into law enforcement mode as the captain continued "My crew has evacuated to life boats, please send assistance immediately!"

"The Alchemor's prisoner manifest lists a Sharkticon aboard." Fixit said with a nod towards Strongarm.

Ratchet and I exchanged glances as I said "Want me to handle the pods while the rest of you go shark fishing?"

Ratchet frowned and said "The Stasis Pods SHOULD be relatively risk free. Still, if we're picking them up then any of the Decipticons still out there are sure to have done so as well. Take Wheeljack and Steel Wing with you. And Strongarm as well I suppose since she doesn't have a way to travel through the air yet. I'll take the rest of the bots to track down the Sharkticon, Agent Fowler, we could use Alpha through Charlie teams' help searching."

"You got it Ratchet, alright boys, suit up!" Fowler said and all of the human members of Unit E activated their armor watches and quickly checked their weapons before both bot and humans took off into the air leaving me, my teacher, a police cadet and our Predacon liaison with Fix It and the two civilians.

"The stasis pods are at grid 40, 23, vector 76, 50." Fixit said before tossing me a scanner and I nodded my thanks before I shifted into my Topkick form and quickly rolled out of the scrap yard, the other three quickly following. As we traveled through the woods avoiding paved roads I made a mental note to give the Predacon's T-Cog an upgrade to allow him to scan a vehicle mode or two so that way we could take to the air next time without causing panic if anyone saw a giant mech dragon fly over their heads. Strongarm's T-Cog could use an upgrade as well while I was at it.

Time Skip

When we reached the sector where the pods were, we came to a stop and Wheeljack said "Alright, weapons out, like the Doc said before, the Decepticons who got away are sure to have picked up the signal as well."

The rest of us nodded and Strongarm and I pulled our pistols out, hers looking rather small compared to mine, while Wheeljack and Steel Wing's right hands turned into blasters. I pulled out the scanner and began leading the way towards where it was pointing while the rest formed into an offset diamond pattern, optics and weapons sweeping.

There was silence for about five minutes before Steel Wing broke it as he said "Brother Tac, may I ask about something I have been confused about?"

"Sure, what do you want to know?" I asked, sidestepping a deer with a thirteen-point rack that apparently was more curious of mechanical giants than scared, the forest dweller only bounding off when we had passed it.

"It is said that you played a rather large role in ending the war with the Decepticons, and more than just killing Megatron. And yet, there is absolutely no sign of your existence in any historical archive I or others could find. No mentions of what you did before the war, no training records, not even a single military posting log, it's as if you never existed." Steel Wing trailed off uncertainly at the end, the confusion in his voice coming through loud and clear.

I could feel the frown that formed on Strongarm's face as she said "Yeah, now that he mentions it, I couldn't find anything on you when I tried to look for your information back on Cybertron." Her optics widened as she said "Are you like some kind of super Black Ops operative who's had his entire history erased?!" Her demeaner then turned back to confused as she said "But wait, earlier today you said that Wheeljack had trained you during the war, and most likely at the tail end of it as well otherwise you would have been mentioned as a member of the Wrecker's in the historical archives."

Wheeljack chuckled as he said "Heh, Tac's a little young to be in ANY historical archive. He wasn't even around until a couple of months before the war ended."

Steel Wing actually stopped at that and I turned towards him in time to see him blinking in surprise as he said "You mean he only came online a few years ago?" He then frowned and said "But wait, how's that possible? He was online BEFORE the All Spark was returned to Cybertron."

"A Predacon like you should know that the All Spark's not the only way for a Bot to be born kid." Wheeljack said with a smirk.

A smirk which I imitated even as I turned back forward and began walking again, calling over my shoulder "You wouldn't find my info in any archives Steel Wing, not when I was originally a clone of Starscream before Optimus Prime changed my frame with the Forge of Solus Prime."

" _Starscream_ , as in Megatron's Second in Command?!" Strongarm asked incredulously.

"And that ain't even the strangest part about the Kid." Wheeljack said with a smirk. The Wrecker didn't say anything else further though, and I'm not sure he would have even if I hadn't put away the scanner and snapped my now free hand up and made a fist in the universal sign to stop. I felt all three Bots stiffen as they shifted to full alert status. Wheeljack let out a tsk as his long range interceptor sensor package told him the same thing mine did: we weren't the only ones heading for the pods our sensors had been picking up for the last five minutes. We traded a quick glance before we took off at a run, the two newbies right on our tail pipes.

We burst into a minor impact created clearing just in time to see a Con with a long wolf tail about to slash open one of the stasis pods. The slightly stressed look in his eyes as they jerked up told me he had heard us coming, not shocking given how fast we had been moving, and had wanted the reinforcements. I only took an instant to note that though, and put much more of my focus into popping my Sonic Resonator out of its housing and blasting him at full power away from the pods and through no less than twenty trees. As they began to fall Wheeljack called out "Tac, get the pods out of here, I've got this guy, newbies cover me!"

"On it!" I said even as I pulled out the Ground Bridge remote. Wheeljack charged after our bogey, blaster already firing as he went and the other two in much the same boat. The pods were too far spread out to make a single ground bridge portal and not wanting to drop them vertically and give them a chance to break anyway, I formed a portal in the air and kicked the closest ones through before I quickly rolled the others in as well. Once that was done I closed the portal and took off to where I could hear fighting.

I arrived to the sight of Wheeljack and our Con opponent going at it hammer and tongs, my teacher's swords stuck to the ground. Clearly, the wolf was a better fighter than I had thought if he could disarm the Wrecker. That fact was confirmed when I saw Steel Wing attempt to perform a sneak attack only to get back kicked into a tree that cracked then fell on top of him. I gave a wince at that before I looked for Strongarm and gave another wince when I saw her slumped over a rock with a cracked surface. Hoping that she was still alive, I rushed towards the fight, grabbing Wheeljack's swords on the way. My shout for Wheeljack to get down saw the Con getting a flying boot to the head.

"Thanks Kid." Wheeljack said as he took his swords back, though instead of activating their vibration functions, he for some reason sheathed them. I gave him a confused look and he grimaced as he said "Guy's too fast for sword work, he can get in and out of range too easily." I blinked once at that before a grunt of exertion had me snapping my gaze back towards our opponent…who was just finishing throwing the majority of a shattered tree at-WHOA!

We rolled out of the way of the tree and I came up with my pistols out and spitting blue bolts of Energon laced death. The Con quickly darted to the side seeming to easily dodge my blaster fire before he suddenly made an abrupt turn and went for- oh no you DON'T! I had a Hughes missile programed and on my right pistol in an instant and it slammed into the Con right before he pounced onto a just awakening Strongarm who barely had time to widen her optics before the missile turned his forward momentum into a lot more sideways momentum and carried him off into the forest to a relatively safe distance from us before detonating with an extremely satisfying loud boom.

"Huh, you've gotten a lot faster at doing that." Wheeljack commented and I couldn't help but let out the snort I gave at that even as I spun my pistols once before holstering them. As Steel Wing got up with a groan and Wheeljack moved to help Strongarm, I said "That Con didn't happen to give his name during the fight, did he?"

"I think it was something like Steeljaw sir." Strongarm said and I gave a nod as I said "Well let's go see how long we'll be picking up his pieces."

The four of us quickly made our way to where the missile exploded. When we got there Steel Wing let out an impressed whistle at the destruction to the trees and said "Where can I get my hands on one of those missiles sir?"

"We'll get you a combat jet mode later." I said before giving the area a second scan and tsked to myself as I said "Damnit, he got away somehow."

"W-what?! But that's impossible sir, he was literally right in front of the missile when it exploded!" Strongarm said with optics wide in disbelief.

"And yet there's not itty-bitty pieces of Con laying around here. And unfortunately he seems to already be out of range of Tac and my interceptor sensors." Wheeljack said with a scowl.

"He's certainly a quick bastard, isn't he?" I asked with my own scowl as I scanned the surrounding woods, no matter how fruitless my logical side said it would be. Giving a sigh, I continued "Then again, he is a scrapping wolf after all."

"Yeah well, next time we see him, I'm going to skin that wolf and use its fur as a rug for the lodge." Wheeljack said, fingering one of his sword hilts as he did so.

"You and me both." I said with a nod before I turned and transformed into my Kickback form as I said "Come on, let's get back to base and see how the others did." I got a quick round of affirmatives before there were multiple sounds of shifting before we all took off back to the scrap yard. We may not have managed to capture Steeljaw, but at least we had kept him away from a bunch of his Decepticon brethren, and that was still a win, no matter how small.

END

Author's Notes: Hey guys, and girls, be sure to check out the poll on my profile for Marching Beside The King. At the time of posting this chapter, there's only seven votes on it and that is nowhere near the number of voters I'd like since the end result will greatly affect a key aspect of the story, so please, just take a minute or two to check it out.


	4. Chapter 4

4\. FixIts Field Trip

Story Start: Crown City Golf Club (Normal Point of View)

A landscaper plucked a single blade of grass from the turf he lovingly cared for and bit into it before he hummed in thought and said "Nitrate level, perfect! This is a master piece, no, no, no, no, a grass-terpiece!" He laughed in glee before hopping into his golf cart and drove away, passing a pond as he did so.

Not two seconds after he passed said pond, a Cybertronian erupted out of the water in vehicle mode, transforming in midair to reveal a crab like Decepticon who stuck the landing in a pose as he said "Yes! Three bodies of water crossed in twelve nano-cycles. This planet's no match for…huh?" He cut himself off when heard the hum of engines coming towards him and looked to see Bumblebee, Bulkhead, and Arcee quickly racing towards him, Strongarm bringing up the rear in an observation position.

Bulkhead pulled ahead of the others before transforming and leaping into the air, his right hand forming a mace as he yelled "You're going down Con!"

Said Con, named Bisk, opened his mouth and fired a blue beam with white pulse rings in it right at Bulkhead catching him and sending him flying backwards with a loud yell of surprise. Just before he hit the ground he was able to transform into his helicopter mode and just barely managed to get his rotors turning fast enough to come in for a 'bumpy' landing rather than digging a crater into the turf, transforming back into bot mode with a sigh of relief.

"Aah, if that had worked, then I would have only needed four more Autobot takedowns to break the record!" Bisk moaned.

"You're not going to even get one!" Arcee yelled, having used Bisk's moment of distraction to get in close in vehicle mode before transforming right in front of Bisk already in a rising hand stand kick that connected with his chin and threw him up into the air where Bumblebee was after having taken a boot thruster aided leap. The former scout spun once in a front flip before slamming an axe kick into Bisk's head at just the right angle to send the crab bot into the golf pond throwing up a rather large spray of water. Bulkhead waded in after him and a moment later came out with a KO'd con over his shoulder.

"Whoa." Strongarm muttered in awe at the rapid take down that had happened in less then thirty seconds. The teamwork between these three were unbelievable for the young recruit.

"Good job guys, now let's get this gaming freak back to his stasis cell." Arcee said and the other two members of Team Prime nodded their agreement and a few seconds later they left the scene. A minute later, the landscaper returned and scratched his head in confusion at the three slight indentations in his grass-terpiece that hadn't been there before.

Scene Change: Charlie Base (Tac's Point of View)

"And then the Lieutenant did this epic front flip aided axe kick take down maneuver and dunked the Con in the pond! It was awesome!" Strongarm said to Fixit with a grin as I walked over.

"Sounds like you guys had fun." I said with a grin of my own.

Arcee _also_ grinned and said "I won't lie, I've been missing being able to kick Con tailpipe back on Cybertron. These last few days have been great."

"It does sound exciting. I think hearing about what all of you do is the most thrilling part of what I do. Gosh, I'd love to get out in the field. In a strictly non-confrontational capacity, of course." Fixit said with yet another grin. (They sure seem popular today don't they)

"Rule 669-B." Strongarm started as her holo-screen of regulations appeared. "Mini-Cons must remain at their duty stations at all times."

"I would remind you that you are not currently on Cybertron rookie." Wheeljack said as he approached the group, pointing a finger at where Miko was excitedly looking around the scrap yard and listening to Denny explain about the items held in it as he continued "Besides, Miko took out an Insecticon all by herself BEFORE she got her fancy armor and weapons. I'm sure it'd be perfectly fine for the little guy to join us every once in a while."

"Hm, he'd need a holo-projector so that he wouldn't attract any unwanted attention first." Bumblebee said in contemplation.

"Easily taken care of." I said as my left forearm compartment popped open and I twirled my Mini-Forge around a couple of times.

Fixit's eyes glowed brighter in his excitement as he said "You mean I could actually join you guys?"

"If the mission calls for it, sure." I said as I knelt down and tapped him with the Mini Forge. Fixit glowed white for a moment before he returned to normal and I said "I added a pair of Sonic Resonator Blasters like I have as well, that way you can properly defend yourself. They'll work a lot better than any blaster I could add given your size."

"Wow, thanks Tac!" Fixit said with a grin before he formed them in his hands before he suddenly shimmered and took a human form of a white five foot two man wearing an orange vest and wielding goggles which he lifted up onto his brow as he said "And this hologram projector is exquisite too!"

As Fixit started messing around with various hologram designs, I noticed Russel coming over looking forlorn and said "Hey there Russel, what's got you down?"

Russel let out a sigh and said "Dad had me go play football with some of the local kids because I said I was bored, but they've been playing together for a long time and…"

"Let me guess, you got body tackled during the first play by a guy about twice your size." I said with a smirk.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Russel asked. As an answer, I shrank down to his size and took off his jacket to show him the rather large green grass stain on the light blue blazer, a part of it peeking over the shoulders.

Russel blinked and said "Oh." Reaching up to take the jacket, he sighed and said "I don't think I'll be going back there tomorrow."

"That's completely up to you kid." Wheeljack said before a two toned 'doorbell' sound filled the scrap yard and all of the Autobots currently stationed in the scrapyard went into vehicle mode. (Bumblebee, Strongarm, Arcee, Bulkhead, Wheeljack, and Me, with myself looking like a rather large RC truck given my current size.) Meanwhile, Fireteam Alpha all engaged the cloaking features Ratchet and I had added to their armor watches two years ago leaving only Russel and Denny as the only visible humans in the area. Fixit briefly panicked before he activated his new holoprojector and formed an illusion of open air as he quickly went to find somewhere better to hide, the sound of his treads stopping just as a bike bell was heard and a voice called out "Rusty, where are ya?!"

Russel gave a sigh and said "Over here Hank."

'That did NOT sound like a boy's voice.' I thought to myself before a brown haired and eyed girl rode up on a bike with a side car attached to its right side. The girl glanced at me and said "Wow, big remote control truck you've got there Rusty."

"Why thank you, I built it myself." Denny said as he walked over.

"You did a good job." Hank said before turning back to Russel and continued "You ran off after one play!"

"I ate five pounds of grass!" Russel said indignantly and I quickly muted my speakers before I gave my cover away by snickering out loud.

"So? Practice in the morning, game in the afternoon. See you tomorrow!" Hank said as she handed Russel an old fashioned football helmet before turning around and pedaling away.

As she left, Denny looked down at his son with a grin and said "So can _I_ call you Rusty now?"

"No!" Russel said causing Denny to chuckle.

Time Skip: Two Hours After Sunset

Fixit looked up at the assembled bots and humans from his station and said "Decepticon, a few miles away."

"Looks like he's in an airfield holding specialized VTOL airplanes." Raf added from his own station.

"Tac, Wheeljack, with me." Arcee said before she transformed and waited only long enough for Jack to hop on before she took off out of the scrap yard.

"Aye, aye ma'am." The two of us said together as we transformed as well and went after her, Agent Fowler behind my steering wheel.

Scene Change: Airfield

There was no security gate at the entrance to the airfield, and no one in the check in booth either which for some reason really bugged me as we drove in. Probably because I heard an aircraft rapidly leaving the area while ascending. As we split up, I said "Now this is interesting, mini cargo planes with Quinjet style turbines housed in the wings but no other propulsion mechanics, I'm going to have to scan one of these before we leave."

"Save your drooling for after we find our guy Tac." Arcee said in amusement and Agent Fowler chuckled even as the pilot in him gave the planes appreciative once overs as well.

I drove down the line of hangars before I frowned when I saw one of them was open with the lights on. Letting Agent Fowler out, I transformed and shrunk down to human size for better stealth as well as not to freak out the person inside if it happened to just be a mechanic and we quietly made our way to the entrance way. Agent fowler pulled out a hand mirror and angled it to look inside before he signed to me 'One Con, removing air plane parts.'

'I'll go in, you cover.' I signed back and he nodded before he activated his armor and I returned to my full size before I drew my right pistol and stepped into the hangar and said "Hands where I can see them Con."

Said con, a purple and red guy with weird bulges and protrusions on his arms and legs with what looked like mouths serving as his wrists turned away from the plane, a part held in his hands. Putting it on the top of the shredded front of the plane, he said in an Australian voice "Do you really think you can take us all on, Copper?"

"Don't try the 'there's more of us than you know' bluff Con, yours was the only signal in the area." I said with a frown.

"Is that so?" The Con asked with a grin before he suddenly split apart into five six legged spider shaped bugs which quickly jumped towards me. Before I could yell at them to get off of me, they sparked with electricity and tried to taze me. Key word being _tried_.

After a moment, they looked up at my head in confusion and I grinned as I said "Interceptor jet for my Alt Mode boys, tasers don't work on me." The next instant, I slammed the two on my arms together before I did a handstand and did the same with the two on my legs before I rolled to flatten the one that had traveled around to my back. As the five Cons laid there groaning, I said "Now then, are you going to come quietly or do I have to punt you around some more?"

"You didn't think we wouldn't have prepared for some Bot being immune to our sting did ya?" The one that I was pretty sure was the head said before he dropped a round object which immediately went off with a bang, a bright light, AND a smoke cloud causing me to yell out in surprised pain, my hands going to my optics.

When they had cleared enough to see and the ringing in my audio receptors had died down, the Con was nowhere to be seen, and neither was the part it had had in its hands. Shaking my head with a groan, I said "Agent Fowler, are you alright?"

Said former Ranger groaned as he shook his head and said "I will be in a minute soldier. By Uncle Sam's beard, I HATE flash bangs!"

"I think I can see why." I said before I glanced out to the airfield as Wheeljack and Arcee quickly came over, their tires screeching as Arcee asked "Tac, Agent Fowler, are you guys alright, what happened?"

"Our Con had an escape plan." Agent Fowler said as he deactivated his armor and blinked a few more times before he gave another shake of his head and said "Let's head back to base so we can have a look at the prisoner list."

Scene Change: Charlie Base

After I took a quick moment to scan one of the VTOLs, we quickly made our way back to base, where Fixit used our description to look up the Con. Studying his screen, he said "He's a Combiner named Chop Shop. A one-man heist crew with a list of crimes as long as Alpha Trion's beard. Have you seen that beard? It's more like a steel carpet, actually, the way he just—"

"So Chop Shop's a thief, up to his old tricks on Earth." Bumblebee said, the cop crossing his arms as he spoke.

Fixit nodded and said "I hacked into the local law enforcement database and found a list of property stolen within an appropriate radius. At first, there didn't seem to be a pattern, you know, copper wire, kerosene, space heater, insulation, storage tanks, computer chips, and now an aircraft gyroscope. But taken together, there's really only one thing Chop Shop would need all those parts for."

"A spaceship, sounds like he wants to get as far from Earth as possible." Wheeljack said with a frown.

"Chop Shop appears to have everything he needs except fuel." Fixit said.

Denny walked over to stand next to the Mini Con as he said "A manufacturing plant in the next county synthesizes liquid oxygen. Security's tight though. Too tight for oversize aliens to just walk up to."

"Somehow I don't think that'll stop this guy." Miko said from Bulkhead's shoulder.

"Yeah, he's probably going to enter through an underground pipe or something." I said in agreement.

"Then we better go after him." Agent Fowler said.

"Only bots with jet modes though, this guy likes to shock people if he gets up close." I said and the others nodded while Bumblebee, Strongarm, and Wheeljack gave me thumbs up. I turned to Fixit and said "If I give you another upgrade so that you can handle any shocks sent your way, do you think you're up for a little field trip?"

"Me sir?" Fixit asked in excitement while pointing to himself with a grin.

"You were in charge of a space ship while everyone else was in stasis, we might need your technical expertise when we track down this guy's ride." I said.

"I would be happy to come with you guys sir!" Fixit said with his grin growing, which somehow got even bigger as I once more tapped him with my Mini Forge causing him to light up.

Scene Change: Liquid Oxygen Plant

A line of five vehicles rolled up to the security booth of the plant, a transferred Steel Wing pulling a trailer behind his Semi Truck mode. I rolled down my currently a grey Ford Ranger's driver window and Agent Fowler showed his badge to the security guard as he said "Special Agent William Fowler, we have intel that suggests a wannabe mad scientist is planning to use large bug drones to infiltrate this plant and steal as much liquid oxygen as he can."

The guard blinked at that before he took a much closer look at the former Ranger's badge, (Ha, Ranger in a Ranger!) before he muttered to himself "Looks real, hang on a sec." He quickly picked up the phone next to him and spoke into it for a minute before he looked at us and said "Alright, you can come in, but the plant manager wants to speak with you as soon as possible."

Agent Fowler nodded and said "I'll speak to him right away while my men look for this guy's toys."

The guard nodded and after another quick conversation on the phone gave us directions for where to go to speak with said manager and then to where to go for the plant's rather large holding tanks before we were allowed in. As I rolled up my window, a hologram disguised Fixit said "Well that seemed easy."

"Never underestimate the power of an authentic badge son." Agent Fowler said as we quickly drove to the administrative office where he hopped out and said "Good luck guys."

"Thank you." Fixit said before he slightly awkwardly moved to my driver side and I continued to lead the way to the holding tanks.

When we reached the tanks, the rest of Alpha Team including June hopped out of the other bots and began scanning the area. (She had transferred with Steel Wing in order to act as his driver.) No cons were here yet but Jack rather quickly found the most likely entrance point which was a large manhole cover in the ground. That established, the humans quickly had the workers stop the flow of liquid oxygen to the nearest tank and ushered them out of the area, a task made infinitely easier when the guy in charge of the area called the plant manager who told them to work with the nice federal agents.

Once they were gone with orders to not come back until given the all clear on pain of being _allowed_ to be tazed by a robo bug, and Agent Fowler contacted us telling us that the security cameras were currently offline for us, all of us Autobots transformed and I used the forge on the surrounding metal to make a thin but incredibly strong cage that was anchored to said metal, which as a bonus was painted _exactly_ in a way that hid its existence from both the outside _or_ the inside. That Con wasn't getting out any way other than how he came in if he SOMEHOW managed to take down five bots, a fire team of humans, and a duel Resonator Blaster equipped Mini-Con, and that was unlikely as well since we now had Mini Forge manufactured precautionary gear to deal with flash bangs. Preparations complete, we settled down into our various covering positions and began to wait.

We didn't have to wait long though, not even ten minutes after our preparations were complete, the man hole cover Jack had identified popped open and our perps came shuttling out. We waited for all five to be a hundred feet from their entrance point before every Autobot in the area snapped on our headlights pinning the group in place as the lead bug said "Blimey, we've been made!" They scrabbled back towards the pipe only to be cut off as Bumblebee screeched to a stop over the pipe and transformed into bot mode, his foot easily skidding the lid back into place and firmly keeping it there.

The lead bug grinned and said "Think you can stop us copper?" He leapt up at Bumblebee and immediately started shocking him. Bumblebee merely cocked his head as he looked down at him and he glanced up with a sheepish smile and said "Let me guess, you have a jet form too?"

"Yep." Bumblebee said before he slammed the bug off of him and into the ground pinning him.

The bug struggled for a moment before he said "Use the bangers mates!" The rest of his body started to comply only for three of them to yell out in pain as Fixit and I made ourselves known, our Resonator Blasters firing without worry of igniting the nearby liquid oxygen tanks while Wheeljack and Strongarm pinned the other two to the ground, quickly removing said flash bangs. Fixit and I kept our prisoners under their sonic barrage as we walked over before I removed their flash bangs as well. Once that was done, we quickly secured our prisoners in specialty cuffs Fixit designed specifically for the Con and hauled them into Steel Wing's trailer.

As the door to the trailer rolled shut, Miko disengaged her armor and said "Man, that was practically boring with how well that went, we didn't even have to do anything!"

"Better boring than horribly wrong Miko." Bumblebee said as he locked the door and almost everyone else gave their agreement as I turned the metal around the area back to normal removing the ultimately unneeded camo cage. A few minutes later we had Agent Fowler with us again and we left the plant, and once we were far enough away, entered a ground bridge to Unit E headquarters for a bit of good old-fashioned interrogation. We still had a homemade space ship to find after all.

Time Skip: Two Hours Later: Chop Shop's Mission Control Center

Fifteen minutes into the interrogation, Ratchet had gotten annoyed with Chop Shop's smart mouthing and 'Patched' with him to find what he needed. When we got to the rocket ship Fixit had gone over it with a fine-toothed comb and finding no booby traps began instructing everyone in its proper disassembly, the Mini Con barking out orders like a work floor foreman even as he disassembled the cockpit. The disassembled parts would be returned to their rightful owners once any modifications to them were removed and they were back in their original condition. That included the new data on the computer chips and other software based equipment, wouldn't do for the owners to have stellar cartography more advanced than most space agencies currently had after all.

The chop shop ship (Ha!) was soon disassembled with its parts on no less than four rented flat bed trucks, and the kind of trucks used to move _pre-fab housing units_ at that, and our massive convoy began entering a ground bridge to a proper holding area. Both Steel Wing and me were straining a little as we both pulled a trailer of our own, and we both had a freaking DIAMOND REO as our vehicle form template, which for those who aren't semi-truck enthusiasts is the biggest sucker currently on the market. Needless to say, when we came out on the other end of the bridge and pulled into our designated slots both Steel Wing and I were rolling our joints with relieved sighs. Even the rented trucks seemed to groan with relief as they rolled to a stop. Not that I could blame them considering they were slightly more normal sized models.

Looking over the trailers full of parts, I said "Anyone else think it would have been easier to just haul the whole ship here in one piece and _then_ disassemble it?"

"Yep/yes/sure feels like it/absolutely." Was the general consensus from everyone else but Fixit who said "Unfortunately, the size of the ground bridge portal would require too much power to be practical."

I gave a slight hum at that before I said "Well, at least our part in all of this is over, let's get back to Charlie Base guys." There was more agreement and soon we were going through another ground bridge back to our current staging area for a well-deserved night of rest.

FIN

Author's Notes: Update Schedule on my profile, and please for the love of Primus, no one ask to update this story not even six hours after this chapter is posted. (Yes, someone actually was insensitive enough to post a review of only 'update' on Flash Fire's latest chapter. Bastard even had the gall to disable private messaging so I couldn't properly curse him out on it.)

Aaanyway, I meant for this one to be the next two episodes of RiD rolled into one chapter but holy batarangs batman!, this episode got LONG! I think without this author's note it's just barely under 4,00 words, and I got it all done in three days to boot! Can I get a 'Woot, Woot!' please?


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Notes: My apologies for this being a little late. I got a really bad Migraine halfway through that made it so I had to stop writing for a few days.

5\. Buffaloes And Elks

After we had disassembled Chop Shop's ship, things were quiet for a short period of time. Two days later though, Agent Fowler got a phone call around noon from General Bryce. His people had gotten word that a stasis pod had been found by hikers on a wooded trail and it was currently being held in the Crown City Museum of Natural History and Sciences. Thankfully, someone on the General's staff had connections with one of the people called in to examine and then try to open the pod. The man had had the good sense to call his friend in and the General had a gag order placed on the information. Steel Wing and the three original members of Team Prime along with Team Alpha got that one, the Predacon once more being used as prisoner transport due to his Diamond Reo form while the other three served as 'police escort' just in case the con inside somehow managed to get out.

They managed to make it back to Charlie base with no problems only for us to get an unwanted surprise when for no apparent reason the cryostasis mechanism of the pod failed and the Buffaloid inside muscled his way out. The con, who Fixit would later identify as the Decepticon enforcer Terrashock, immediately tried to start a fight only for Steel Wing to transform into his bot mode right next to him and sucker punch the big idiot before slamming an elbow into his neck when he slouched forward clutching his stomach. The Con was then dog piled by Team Prime, along with a way too amused Wheeljack before he and Bulkhead dragged the big lug kicking and screaming into a new stasis pod. Fixit was rather put out about the state Terrashock had left his old prison cell in though he did say that he _might_ be able to use the remains for spare parts for the other stasis pods.

Five hours after the Buffaloid Con was dealt with, Ratchet visited Charlie Base with some rather _interesting_ news. Back when the Alchemor had crash landed, Unit E had lead a massive search and recover operation of as much of it as they could find. The prison ship's command center had been as salvaged and repaired as possible in order to serve as Charlie Base's own command center (with a few additions) in order to both make use of the resources and to save Unit E a bit of money in having to bring in new sensors. After all, even with Ratchet and my Mini Forges, we still needed raw materials to make something. It had been much easier just using said Mini Forges to bring the Alchemor's systems back to functionality once we had hauled everything needed to the junk yard.

Everything else recovered from the crash site had been brought back to Unit E's Headquarters where Ratchet spent most of his time going over everything with the local eggheads to see if there was anything else useful or dangerous enough around humans to warrant a one way trip to the sun or even back to Cybertron. Apparently, a ruptured fuel cell had already taken a dip into the giant plasma pool in the sky.

Ratchet currently had one of the things that was useful in his hand as he looked at the rest of us gathered Autobots and Alpha Team as he said "While I was inventorying the wreckage of the Alchemor I came across a rather useful object." Holding the object up for us to see, he said "This was an attempt by Autobot scientists to attempt replicating the Forge of Solus Prime. A relatively successful attempt I might add. This is a Neo Forge, more commonly known as a Decepticon Hunter. Due to its rather late development in the war for Cybertron, these were primarily issued to prison ships in order to keep captured prisoners from escaping and reinvigorating the war efforts on the Decepticon side. They connect to the user's neurotransmissions so whatever combat device is imagined, the Decepticon Hunters generates, within certain parameters."

"Oooh, gimme, gimme, gimme, gimme!" Miko said, stars practically shining in her eyes as she gestured for the device that was taller than she was causing me and a few other Autobots to snort in amusement. Strongarm gave the girl a slightly disapproving look even as her own fingers made traitorous twitches towards the device. Smokescreen wasn't even being that subtle, having taken a full step towards the device before catching himself and taking that same step back with an embarrassed chuckle and rub of the back of his helm when he caught everyone else looking at him.

"However, Decepticon Hunters can be almost as dangerous, if not more so to their users." Fixit chimed in from his station in the command center above us drawing all of our attention to him.

"What do you mean Fixit?" Jack asked in confusion.

"As Ratchet said, the Decepticon Hunter connects with the user's neurotransmissions, meaning, if you think it, it'll make it. However, if you're not completely focused on what you want, then what it forms can be quite unpredictable, and may cause more harm to you than to your target, especially if you become afraid of it harming you, even subconsciously." Fixit said and I noticed both Strongarm and Smokescreen give the deceptively tame looking super weapon now wary looks.

"Which is why we shall refrain from making more of these until you can provide proof that you can reliably use this one." Ratchet said giving each of the Autobots a firm look. When he was sure that he and Fixit had stressed just how dangerous the Neo Forge was, he turned his focus on me and said "Tac, given your experience with your own Mini Forge, I believe you may have a slight advantage when it comes to using this weapon. Would you care to give it a shot?"

I nodded and walked over, making sure to settle only on one type of weapon as I did so. Accepting the weapon, I snapped it to the side and there was the classic snap-hiss! of a lightsaber activating and a beam of green energy shot out of the end. I grinned at the sight and said "Ooh, Tac likes." A thought, and the lightsaber blade disappeared only to be replaced by the tear shaped prongs of a Type 1 Energy Sword from the Halo franchise. Another thought and I had a blade tipped bo staff. One last thought had me holding the mother of all rotary cannons set onto a tripod. Grin growing, I said "Rambo, eat your heart out."

"Well, Tac seems to know what he's doing." Arcee said in amusement and I let out a short cackle even as the weapon returned to its default form and I handed it back to Ratchet.

"So he does." Ratchet mused as he nodded to me and turned to the others as he said "Now then, we'll be doing Neo Forge training back at headquarters. Arcee, Bumblebee, Bulkhead, as senior members you three will be the first group to learn how to use it followed by Wheeljack, Smokescreen, Steel Wing, and Strong Arm. Given Tac's already expanded arsenal of the Sonic Resonator blaster, he will go last." I pouted at that but nodded. It made since after all. Especially since I had a Mini Forge to work with already.

"What about us?" Miko asked eagerly. I couldn't help the snicker that came from some of the Autobots giving each other worried looks at the thought of Miko with a Neo Forge and the indignant look she in turn got when she spotted said looks.

"When it comes time to making copies of this device we shall see what we can do for the human fire teams." Ratchet said diplomatically.

"Those things will sure come in handy for our boys on the ground if you can make mini Hunters." Agent Fowler mused thoughtfully before ruefully shaking his head as he continued "Of course, if they got into the wrong hands there's definitely going to be problems."

"Indeed, but we can think of security protocols once we actually start making the copies." Ratchet said in agreement and that was that. Optimus' original three fighters followed Ratchet back through the Ground Bridge to headquarters and the rest of us split up to go back to what we had been doing previously. For me and Wheeljack that was being good guests and helping Denny rearrange some of the heavier stuff ranging from a really old train car down to practically paper weight in weight comparison vintage refrigerators. As such, we were the two nearby when our next mission came up.

When the two toned bell dinged, Wheeljack and I quickly transformed, him into his sportscar and me into my Ford Ranger form which was quickly becoming my 'go to casual' form for nostalgia's sake. A VERY dirty SUV pulled up a few moments later and three guys wearing blue togas over their clothes and blue metal antlers of all things came out, the two non-drivers having to take a moment to get their antlers unhooked from each other. The driver took a few steps forward and posed dramatically as he said "Give us what we desire. Or the Kospego shall destroy you all!"

Denny scoffed and said "Really, you expect me to believe that you have a giant cranky elk like creature that walks on two legs and has the strength of a thousand humans on speed dial?"

The man flinched and said "I too though the Kospego was but a myth. Until I saw it!" The cuckoo clock behind Denny going off had me and Wheeljack quickly mute our outer speakers even as our laughter filled our com frequency. The speaker only paid the clock enough attention to show he had noted its presence before he continued "The Kospegp said…'I need stuff, and youse gonna get it for me. Or else I'm gonna break some junk. And by junk, I mean youse.' I shared the story with others. They came to witness the Kospego, and now they too are believers!" All three were now holding their hands in the prayer position with eyes closed before the speaker opened his eyes again and said "We must all follow the Kospego's commands or…" All three made snapping motions and the sound generally reserved for bone breakage.

"Uh-huh." Denny said, clearly thinking he should call the nice young men in the clean white coats but willing to go along for the sake of a sale as he said "And will the Kospego be paying cash?"

"Oh, no. Arnold will. Uh, that's me." The speaker said, finally giving us a name to work with.

"Then what can we get for you and the Kospego, Arnie?" Denny asked.

As Arnold unrolled an actual old time scroll that unraveled a good dozen feet, Wheeljack and I managed to spot some of the things listed that he had already collected. This coupled with what he was asking for and my memories from Starscream when he was supervising the construction of the Decepticon's second Space Bridge had me saying over my coms "Wheeljack, I think we have a Con running a con."

"Sure seems that way." Wheeljack said when I sent him the relative files before he brought Fixit into the conversation as he said "Fixit, we need an identification for a possible Decepticon. Got anything with antlers in the prisoner list?"

"One moment sir." Fixit said before he came back a moment later and said "Yes sir, the Alchemor's prisoner manifest does list a Decepticon named Thunderhoof."

"Should we tell the newbies?" I asked my old teacher.

Wheeljack scoffed over the com frequency and said "We took on a few dozen Insecticons and Knock Out together, we can handle a single Con. Besides, you know Wreckers don't call for backup."

"Fair enough, Fixit, we need satellite coverage of the human's car for tailing purposes." I said.

"Yes sir, accessing overhead Satellite network." Fixit said before a satellite image of the scrap yard appeared on our screens inside our vehicle forms. After that it was merely a waiting game as Denny got everything Arnold needed and forty five minutes later the civilian's SUV strained more than a little as it pulled a trailer heavily loaded down with a generator and other odds and ends. We let it get five miles ahead of us before we began to follow. It took well over an hour, Arnold's vehicle most certainly not being made to handle the weight of the generator, but we eventually left the main roads and began going on the smaller roads. A half an hour after we turned onto the small roads we turned onto what seemed to be an old trail used by ranger vehicles that led in a twisting path to an unnatural clearing in the woods that could have only have been made with heavy equipment, or a Decepticon. Wheeljack and I stopped a mile from the clearing and shifted into Bot mode as we got off the trail and made our way under the cover of the trees.

Using the satellite overhead, we managed to maneuver onto a for us small cliff side that overlooked the attempted Space Bridge our Con was having them build. As we studied it, Wheel Jack asked "So, is it usable?"

I narrowed my eyes as I compared what I was seeing with what I knew of Space Bridge technology before I shook my head and said "If by some miracle it was, it'd be _extremely_ unstable and probably only operable once, and good luck winding up where you wanted to."

"So then we don't let him use it." Wheeljack stated calmly.

"That's a given, but we need to get the humans clear of the area before we take on the Con." I said before I gained a devious grin and said "I think I've got an idea how to do it too. This Con wants to play on local folklore? We'll play on it too." Wheeljack looked at me curiously with a cocked head before he gained a just as devious grin as I explained what I had in mind.

A few minutes later, we practically scared the humans pee less as we strolled into the clearing like we owned the place and I said "Mortals, we are the Hunters of Primus, sent to hunt the being known as the Kospego. Going by your garb, we can surmise that you have interacted with the beast, is this correct?"

All of the humans had shaking knees from fear but Arnold somehow managed to squeak out "Y-yes, oh great Hunters! We must all obey the commands of the Great Kaspego or he shall inflict great harm to us all!" All of the humans flinched while as one making that bone cracking sound and gesture again.

"Fear not mortals, for we shall ensure that does not happen." Wheeljack said and I picked up as I said "Vacate this area, and go back to your former lives. Let the threat of the Kaspego no longer weigh heavy on your shoulders for soon he shall be slain."

The beginning of us drawing our swords was enough motivation for the humans to quickly toss off their antlers and togas before sprinting away to their parked vehicles and getting the _hell_ out of dodge, not wanting to be in the middle of a conflict between three giant beings who could easily snap their bodies like twigs. Stopping our draws halfway through, we sheathed our blades as the rapidly vehicles left and I rolled my neck before I said "Come on, let's unhook that thing from the generator before our Con shows up."

We quickly had the generator unhooked, and the trailer with the generator still on it moved to where a pile of I Beams were just for good measure before we waited for Thunderhoof to show up. Thankfully we didn't have to wait too long. Not fifteen minutes after we had moved the trailer holding the generator, a large blue tractor with a large rake twice its width at the front pulled into the area, carelessly knocking down a few trees as it came over.

Once it was close enough to me and Wheeljack, it transformed into the humanoid elk form of Thunderhoof and said "Hey-oh! What's going on here? Where'd all my little worker weirdos run off to?"

"They did the smart thing and ran back home, now do us a favor and give up." I said even as our hands began drifting up to once more grip our sword hilts.

"Don't go barking rules and regulations at me, officer. I'm Thunderhoof, see? I ran some of the biggest criminal enterprises on Cybertron. Half you cops were on my payroll." Thunderhoof said pointing at us then jerking his thumb at himself as he spoke.

"That's nice and all, but you see there's one problem with what you said." I said.

"Oh yeahs, and whats that?" Thunderhoof asked with narrowed eyes.

I smirked as I said "We're not cops/we're Wreckers." Wheeljack finished with a smirk of his own before our face shields slid into place and we shot forward while drawing our swords, blades humming as we activated their vibrational functions right out the gate. Thunderhoof counter charged and lowered his head to catch all four of our swords on his antlers. Unfortunately, that's what we had wanted him to do and with the barest hints of hesitation our blades sliced straight through his tough antlers and we continued past the Elk. Coming to a stop a few steps away, we quickly turned in time to see Thunderhoof stumbling as he struggled to keep his balance before he turned around and reached for his antlers. Feeling them be much shorter than they should be, he brought his incredulous gaze to the sliced pieces now on the ground before turning that look up to us.

Smirking behind my face shield, I spun my right sword once as I said "Ready to keep going? Or are you going to actually do the smart thing and give up?"

Thunderhoof moved his right foot back a little in slight fear before his expression firmed up and he said "I aints going back to prison!" The next moment, Thunderhoof showed how he got that name when he slammed his right foot onto the ground and it shook as a fissure shot towards us. Wheeljack and I jumped clear of the fissure thanks to our boot thrusters but it had only been a distraction so that Thunderhoof could turn around and try to flee in his tractor form.

Sighing at the sight, I mused to myself "Why do they always try to run?" The next instant, Wheeljack and I sprinted after him with our boot thrusters allowing us to easily overtake the tractor and we skidded to a stop thirty feet in front of him. Thunderhoof transformed and also skidded to a stop with wide eyes as he said "Are yous kidding me?!"

"We've got jets for vehicle mode buddy, you couldn't outrun us even if you had a dozen tanks of Noz in ya." Wheeljack smirked before he leapt forward, boot thrusters firing and me right on his tail. Thunderhoof only had time to widen his eyes before we were past him again. Sheathing our swords like samurai in a Hollywood film, our blades all clicked in their sheaths at the same time as there was the sound of multiple objects hitting the ground. Turning around revealed a dead Thunderhoof who had been decapitated, amputated, and had his torso cut into four separate pieces.

As our face shields drew back, Wheeljack smirked at the corpse and said "Like I said before: Wreckers don't call for backup."

"We call for cleanup." I finished the quote with my own smirk and we gave each other high fives without looking before I called in a ground bridge for said cleanup.

END

Author's Notes: Update Schedule and Poll on my Profile

The Buffoloid episode in my opinion almost wasn't worth mentioning in this story. Bumblebee's not leading a mismatched team so there's no conflict on that front, and Unit E is still a thing in this story so the stasis pod was easily acquired. (And why the hell doesn't Bee reach out to Agent Fowler in this show? Unit E's been a big help in smoothing things over in Prime, imagine how much drama could be avoided if he just asked for help again. Robots in Disguise IS supposed to be a _sequel_ after all.) Yes, I decided to have the big idiot break out, but that was just me giving a nod to the fact it did that in the show and he was rather quickly apprehended.

Moving on, we have the Decepticon Hunter. I figured it could take a while to go through everything recovered from the crash site so that's why I didn't have it in an earlier chapter. This won't be quite as important in this story since Ratchet and I do have Mini Forges but all of the Autobots well get one just for specialty weapon needs.

Finally, Thunderhoof. Yes, I know he's supposed to be part of Steeljaw's pack, but let's face it, me and Wheeljack already managed to lose a Con once, we weren't going to allow that to happen again. Steeljaw's group is going to be a LOT smaller than in canon, he might even only be my himself in this story. After all, Underbite and Thunderhoof are now dead so that's half his crew gone right there. Only time will tell if that will make things easier or him just desperate.


	6. Chapter 6

6\. Dealing With Kleptomaniacs

Story Start: Unit E Headquarters, Interrogation Room A, Midnight

(Normal POV)

A black haired and eyed man in a flannel shirt had his hands handcuffed to the interrogation room's table and was nervously looking around. Suddenly the door swung open making him jump as Special Agent William Fowler strode in with a stern look. Sitting down in front of the man and putting a folder on the table, Fowler said "Larry Larue, you're in quite the bit of trouble."

Larry swallowed and said "Honestly officer, this is all just a big misunderstanding!"

Fowler scoffed as he opened the folder and said "That's Special Agent to you son, and is that so? Tresspassing on Government Property, Breaking and Entering of said government facility, lying to a Federal Agent, attempted blackmail of a Federal Consultant, and attempted revealing of Government secrets. Seems like I know exactly what this is, but go ahead and tell me, what exactly did we get wrong?"

Larry gave a much louder swallow as he said "Look man, I just wanted some of the things Denny Clay had, he's got the biggest collection of vintage memorabilia within five hundred miles, if not a thousand!" He then scowled and continued "But he'd never sell any of it, no matter what anyone would offer."

Fowler pinned Larry with a stern look as he said "Then you should have looked for your souvenirs somewhere else _Larry_. If a man doesn't want to sell his property then that's his prerogative." Leaning forward, Fowler gained a rather worrying smile as he said "But unfortunately for you, you lack the common sense to understand that which means now you get to deal with _me_." Larry couldn't help the whimper that formed as he took in the smile, and worst, the eager glint in the Special Agent's eyes.

Flash Back: Sixteen Hours Earlier: In The Skies Over Crown City Outskirts

(First POV)

A squadron of four fighters, one YF-12, three Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II's flew through the clouds at two thousand feet in a diamond formation, the Yf-12 in the back. Me, Bumblebee, Smokescreen, and Strongarm were currently looking for a Decepticon whose signal kept popping in and out of the Alchemor's sensors. The only thing that we had been able to determine was that the target was airborne. Normally, Wheeljack would be with me and the other two original members of the squadron, but given that Strongarm was Bumblebee's Law Enforcement student, she was taking his place in the formation for the experience.

My interceptor sensors pinged an alert and I called over the radio "Bogey, 270 Bullseye 30, 5 Cherub."*

"Roger that." The three F-35s acknowledged and Bumblebee lead the flight in a long turn that oriented us in the proper direction before we went to full military thrust and within a minute we were over the designated area.

"Tally ho!" Strongarm called out before she clarified "Down on the deck, following the road!"

"I see it, Fixit, sending you imaging now." Bumblebee sent as we dialed back our speed in order to remain in a pursuit position up on the perch above and behind our target which looked like a giant mechanical raven.

"Visual received Bumblebee, one moment." Fixit said and twenty seconds later he came back on and said "Got it, our fugitive's name is Filch, she's a compulsive thief. Reports from Crown City Law Enforcement indicate that she's been very busy, stealing everything from water tanks, to railroad switches and radar domes."

"Seems like organic or techno, ravens are STILL kleptomaniacs." I mused to myself.

"Guess we'll have to figure out where she's been hiding everything once we catch her." Smokescreen said.

"Let's clip her wings. And Tac, we take her alive. We can't interrogate a corpse." Bumblebee said, slightly sternly at the end.

If I was in bot mode, I would have rolled my eyes as I said "I am perfectly capable of bringing in our escaped convicts alive when the situation calls for it thank you very much." As we dove, I continued "Get her from the right side guys, we don't want to damage the road or powerlines with weapons fire."

"Roger that." The other three said in tandem before Strongarm offered a better plan and said "I'll ground her, you three pin her."

"Go ahead Strongarm." Bumblebee said and Strongarm lightly hit her afterburners to pull lead on us. She went down in a near vertical dive, pulling almost a full ninety degree pull up at the bottom in order to come just above and alongside Filch on the opposite side of the power poles before barrel rolling, going above the power poles and towards Filch, transforming as she went, and called out "Watch the Birdie!"

Filch barely managed to get out a surprised squawk before Strongarm's punch slammed into her head and the raven was knocked out of the sky, digging a furrow into the ground beside the road, Strongarm landing in a skid that left a smaller pair of skid marks in the ground perpendicular to it. Filch had barely slid for twenty feet before Smokescreen landed feet first on her back, digging her further into the ground and earning a cry of pain. A cry which was repeated as Bumblebee and I replicated Smokescreen's actions and landed on her wings. With the added weight of three Bots on her, Filch rapidly stopped skidding, and as soon as her inertia was expended, Smokescreen dropped to his knees and slammed a punch into the back of Filch's head causing the bird to immediately go limp.

As the three of us got off her body, Strongarm jogged up and said "Another successful capture."

"Indeed, good plan Cadet." Bumblebee said with a nod which had Strongarm grinning at the praise.

Smokescreen nudged the large form of Filch with his foot and said "So since the Ground Bridge is currently down for scheduled maintenance, how do we get this bad bird back to base?"

I grinned as I pulled out my Mini Forge and said "I've got an idea or two."

Scene Change: Unit E Forward Base Charlie, An Indeterminate Time Later (3rd POV)

Fixit was monitoring the flyers' position, Denny and Russel watching next to him as most of the rest of Unit E's personnel either watched Jack and Miko going at it with their Injustice 2 game or doing the little routine work that came from being posted at Charlie Base. A spinning circle on the screen was coming closer to the base on the map as Fixit said "Alpha squadron should be here within the next fifteen minutes, provided nothing goes wrong with the prisoner of course."

"That con of theirs sure picked a fine day to pop up on the scanners." Russel said with a slight frown.

Fixit nodded and said "Yes, it would have been better if we had picked it up on a day when the Ground Bridge wasn't down for maintenance, but they seem to have found a way to transport her in an efficient enough manner."

The doorbell of the scrap yard rang and Denny perked up as he said "The front gate! Oh, please let it be someone wanting to sell a pristine 8-track player."

"Better make it a quick transaction dad!" Russel called as he hurriedly made his way after his father.

Denny winced a little and said "Right, incoming bots with a giant robo bird, I'll try to be as quick as possible without being rude about it." Reaching the door, Denny put on a pleasant smile and pushed the button. The moment the door opened enough to see the person on the other side, the polite smile left Denny's face like it had a rocket pack strapped to it and he immediately began closing the door again.

The man quickly put himself in front of the closing door and said "Whoa, Denny, hey, it's me. Larry Larue."

"Hello, Larry." Denny said crossing his arms. Behind one of the nearby shelves, a member of Bravo Team glanced up from the old timer microwave he had been studying and cocked his head as he heard the frosty hostility in the normally chipper man's voice. Moving away from the microwave, he walked over and said "Is there a problem Denny?"

"Not at all Special Agent Tomson, Larry here was just leaving." Denny said coolly.

"Ah come on Denny, aren't you the slightest bit curious about why I'm here?" Larry asked, flicking his eyes up from where they had been drawn to the gun holster that had been revealed under the operative's jacket when he purposefully put his hands in his jean pockets. The question of _why_ someone with the title of Special Agent was in the scrap yard briefly flicked through Larry's mind but he just as quickly assumed that he was just a customer here off duty.

"Alright Larry, what do you want?" Denny asked with narrowed eyes.

Putting on a grin, Larry said "Well, I'm out of the collecting biz and hosting a new reality TV show, Scrapmeisters. I search through people's junk for hidden treasure. And I thought, who has more junk than my pal, Denny Clay?"

"Actually, it's vintage memorabilia for the-" Denny started but Russel interrupted him with an eager smile as he said "You wanna put my Dad on TV?"

Larry grinned as he leaned down and said "You betcha, little man. Your dad's scrapyard is legendary." Standing back up and bringing the tv camera he was holding up to his right shoulder, he said "Maybe I'll even buy something, for old times' sake, because I'm dying-My audience is dying to know. _What_ is in your collection, Scrapmeister Denny?"

Denny cocked an eyebrow before he smirked and said "Well, there's our magical closing gate." So saying, he lightly pushed Larry behind the door and closed it as he waved and said "Good seeing you, Larry!"

"Hey wait!" Larry called from behind the now closed barrier.

Denny rolled his eyes before he glanced at Tomson as he said "I'm not the only one who caught that little slip up right?"

Denny snorted and said "No you were not, I'll believe that Larry Larue is out of the collection business when President Trump starts hugging Mexican Immigrants at the border on National TV."

That had the two adults snickering as they walked back into the main part of the scrapyard. Russel gave the door a considering look for a moment before shrugging and followed the two. Just as they started walking though, Fixit called over the PA system "Attention all personnel, Fliers inbound, prepare for package delivery."

Russel perked up and said "Now this I've got to see!" The boy eagerly ran off to where Unit E had set up shop, the two adults following at a more relaxed pace with smiles at his eagerness.

On the other side of the door, Larry Larue furrowed his brows as he said "Package delivery by fliers? What could be so big that it would need to be air lifted straight to here rather than being trucked in?" There was a rather greedy gleam appearing in his eyes as he thought about just what could be being brought in. However, whatever he was thinking of, it didn't begin to come even remotely close to what he actually saw.

The sound of multiple jet engines slowly built up before a squadron of four fighter jets slowly flew overhead, one of them looking like a half sized Blackbird, and in between them held by a net of black cable attached to each fighter's underside was a massive bird made out of metal. Larry's jaw dropped as the fighters flew over the Scrapyard wall and came to a smooth stop over it. The fighters made a perfect turn of their formation before they began descending out of sight.

Once they were gone, Larry quickly shook his head once to get his brain back in gear and grinned as he said "Oh, now I _definitely_ have to see what Denny's got in there!"

(1st POV)

Me and my teammates lowered ourselves until our captive had touched the ground. Once low enough, we detached the net lines that were attached to us before we transformed and dropped the remaining feet down to the ground in crouches, standing up with blasters out and trained on our still knocked out prisoner. Bulkhead and Wheeljack were ready with a containment unit and the two Wreckers quickly shoved our felonious fowl into it, net and all. Bulkhead closed the cryochamber's door and we put our blasters away as Wheeljack said "Seems like your hunting trip went well."

"Yep, now if only we had caught some ducks while we were at it as well." I said and both Wheeljack and Bulkhead snickered, the bulkier Wrecker wheeling the containment unit over to the command base for when the Ground Bridge was back up, the rest of us following.

(3rd POV) Time Skip: Thirty Minutes Later

Larry gave a grunt as he hoisted himself over the top of the wall. A quick glance around showed that it looked like no one was near his section of the scrapyard and so he went over the edge and landed in a crouch with another grunt. Grinning, Larry stood up and put the camera on his shoulder as he said "Now then, let's see what you're hiding Denny."

"That is for us to know, and you to not." A voice he semi recognized said as Tomson stepped out of one of the nearby rows of various items, pistol already up and trained on Larry.

Larry held his hands up in surrender as he said "Aw nuts."

Walking over, Tomson said "I knew you wouldn't have done the smart thing and leave, now put down the camera, turn around, and put your hands on the wall."

Larry gave a small groan as he put the camera down before he stood back up and followed the rest of Tomson's orders. The federal agent patted him down for weapons, and once he didn't find anything, holstered his pistol and brought Larry's hands down behind his back to hand cuff him. That done, he pulled out a strip of cloth from his pocket that he had grabbed earlier and blindfolded Larry before he spun him around and pushed him to get him walking as he knelt down to pick up the camera and said "Move."

The pair walked away from the wall and towards the base. Tomson was sure that Agent Fowler would be _very_ interested in talking with Larry Larue. He'd just stick the sleaze ball in the old diner that Denny used as his place of residence until the Ground Bridge was back up and running.

END

Author's Notes: Poll and Update Schedule on my Profile

Anyone interested in starting a TVTropes page for any of my stories? Please PM me if you are.

*Unidentified radar contact, West of Crown City, Thirty Miles Away, Five hundred feet above ground level.


	7. Chapter 7

7\. Ticks And Frogs

Story Start: Charlie Base

I frowned from where I was standing next to Fix It in my human sized form with crossed arms as the pair of us studied a map on his station. Shaking my head, I said "Yet another Decepticon signal detected, this one all the way over in South America of all places. I _really_ wish the Alchemor had fallen in relatively one piece."

"It would certainly have made things easier for us." Fixit said in agreement. Frowning, he said "Unfortunately, the target is in a heavily forested region, a Rain Forest region at that, and going by its course and speed, that shall not be changing anytime soon. We'll have to set the arrival coordinates of the ground bridge in the air above tree top level, but getting a visual on the target from the air could prove close to impossible."

"True, visibility will be rather low, but Interceptor sensors should be able to handle it." I said, tapping my left elbow with my right pointer finger making a few clinking sounds.

"Perhaps, but the heat the rain forest gives off naturally could interfere with said sensors, and unfortunately, while we _can_ detect the Decepticon with the Alchemor's sensors, they are not able to properly pinpoint the target to aid in our search due to range." Fix-it said, chin cupped in one hand, and that arm's elbow cupped in the other.

"Well, if the job was easy all the time, it'd get boring. That said, I think so long as this guy doesn't head for any populated areas, we can wait until more of the team is available for a proper search."

"True, Team Prime is still in Canada tracking down that Deeratron while Wheeljack and Smokescreen are at Alpha base finishing their training with the Decepticon Hunter. And Steel Wing and Strong Arm have yet to report back on their own mission." Fix It said.

Right as he said that though, the coms opened up and we heard "Strong Arm reporting, Container Pod found, requesting ground bridge."

Fix It chuckled and said "It appears I stand corrected." Clearing his throat a little, he said "Roger that Strongarm, sending Ground Bridge to your coordinates now." He quickly set the coordinates and a moment later the two newbies came out of the portal, the stasis pod on Steel Wing's shoulder as the Night Fury Predacon followed Strongarm over to the command center.

Strong Arm gave a quick salute and said "Objective secured, Sir." Her shoulders then slumped and she tacked on "For all the good it does us."

I gave a sigh and said "Empty pod?"

"Well, not totally empty sir." Strongarm said before she looked at Steel Wing and said "Show Tac and Fix It what we found if you would please Steel Wing."

"Sure thing." Steel Wing said with a snort of disgust, putting the pod down on its side and tapping in its open command on the interface on the capsule's door. It swung open and a small wave of mud came out.

Gesturing at it, Strongarm said "As you can see sir, the Decepticon that had been inside left us a parting gift."

"So I see. Probably wanting to tell us we're slow as mud." I said with a sigh.

"Well at least we have another containment unit for when we do apprehend a prisoner." Fix It pointed out, trying to keep things upbeat.

"True enough." I said with a shake of my head before I gave a negligent hand gesture to where we kept the other containers waiting for prisoners and said "Steel Wing, can you take the container over to the others? We'll clean it out later."

Steel Wing nodded and said "Of course Tac." With that, he easily hoisted the container on his shoulder again and walked away.

As he did so, I suddenly frowned and noticing this, Strongarm asked "What is it sir?"

"Did either of you notice what he just called me?" I asked.

Fix It and Strong Arm both traded confused looks and Fix It said "He called you Tac. But I don't understand what's wrong, that _is_ your name after all."

"Yeah, but after Bumblebee's ceremony where he got promoted to Warrior class and I was named Friend of the Beast Tribe, every Predacon I've met has put the title Brother in front of my name when talking to me, and Steel Wing has been no exception, and yet this time he didn't."

"Huh, that is strange." Strongarm said looking in the direction Steel Wing had gone.

"And suspicious." I said with narrowed eyes remembering what the Cons tried to pull in the Con Job episode. Turning to Fix It, I asked "Are there any Shifters in the Alchemor prisoner list?"

"One moment sir." Tac said, searching for a moment before he nodded and said "There is one sir, named Pseudo."

"Hang on, I was with Steel Wing the whole time we were on the mission, when could this Shifter have made the swap?" Strongarm asked with a cocked head.

"Hm, that does make Pseudo being the perpetrator unlikely." Fix It said rubbing his chin with his hand before he put his digits back on the keyboard as he said "Maybe…" After a few moments of searching, he said "Aha, I've got it!" He pulled up what he had found and continued "On board the Alchemor was a Minimus Ambus called Minitron!"

"A mini whatus now?" I asked in confusion, having never heard of that species before, though Starscream's memories probably had some reference to it that I could find if I did a general search.

Before I could start that search though Strongarm groaned and said "A Minimus Ambus sir, is a cyber-tick that once it bites someone, can take control of that Cybertronian. My department back on Cybertron had a problem with one of them using innocent Autobots to commit a series of thefts, framing said Autobots while allowing him to continue stealing unhindered. It took us _months_ to figure out what was really going on."

"So Steel Wing's being manipulated like a puppet on strings." I said with eyes narrowed in anger. That was one of my team members the enemy was forcing to do their bidding.

"It sure seems that way sir." Strongarm said, also sounding angry.

"Hm, I believe Minitron could have taken over Steel Wing in an effort to release recaptured Decepticon prisoners." Fix It said, now tapping his chin.

"Then it's a good thing we send them to Alpha Base rather than keeping them here isn't it?" I asked with a grin.

"Indeed sir." Strongarm said, now smirking before turning serious as she said "Regardless of _why_ our perk is here, we can't let him stay in control of Steel Wing."

"You got that right. Strongarm, give me your weapon." I growled, pulling out my Mini Forge and tapped her offered pistol with the hammer. The weapon glowed once and a selector switch appeared on it near the trigger, a small circular barrel appearing above the original rectangular barrel and I said "Stun gun, it'll knock out anything it hits our size or smaller pretty much instantaneously, and anything bigger will be feeling it too. Steel Wing will probably have a headache when he wakes up but I bet he'd prefer that to being a prisoner in his own body."

"Right." Strongarm said with a nod and inspected her returned weapon for a moment. Glancing back up at me, she said "So I assume the plan is for you to distract him then I take the shot?"

I nodded and said "Yeah, he should have no way of knowing we're onto him so hopefully he won't be the twitchy kind of spy."

"Alright, I'll make an appropriately sized containment unit while you apprehend the prisoner, good luck you two." Fix It said and we nodded before we walked at a casual pace towards the containment units, Strongarm falling in directly behind my taller frame to remain hidden.

Once there, we could see Steel Wing looking around with a frustrated look on his face as he muttered to himself "Empty, empty, empty! Where the scrap do they keep the occupied ones?!"

"Problem Steel Wing?" I asked with a cocked head.

Steel Wing stiffened before he slowly turned around with a smile on his face and said "No, no problem. I'm just looking for um, a bolt! Yes, a bolt came off the containment unit and I'm trying to find it!"

"I see, well how about I help you find it." I said, walking forward towards the Predacon.

"No, no, that's not necessary. I'm almost done searching this area so I should find it any second now." Steel Wing said holding up his hands.

I cocked my head further and pointed at Steel Wing's feet and said "Isn't that it there?"

"What?" Steel Wing asked, looking down in confusion. Soon as he was looking away I stepped to the side and Strongarm fired her blaster, a blue ring of energy hitting him dead in the chest and the Predacon immediately fell forward, crashing to the ground dead to the world.

Wincing at the sound the crash made, I sighed and said "Sorry about that Steel Wing."

"I'm sure he'll understand sir." Strongarm said and I gave a nod before we quickly began searching the big guy. We found the cyber-tick on the side of Steel Wing's left ankle and I held it behind the head with my left hand and activated my com unit with my right as I said "Fix It, we've got him."

"Understood sir, I'll be there in a minute with the containment unit." The Mini-Con responded.

Sighing to myself as I dropped my hand, I gave the Decepticon in my other hand the stink eye and muttered "I hate possession type enemies, they're such a pain in the tail pipe."

"At least we caught this one before he could do any real damage sir." Strongarm said and I nodded my acknowledgement.

Time Skip: One Hour Later, In The Air Above The Amazon Rain Forest

With the immediate threat of Minitron averted and the straightforward successful return of Team Prime, the Autobots now had plenty of people to send on a search through the forest. We were also joined by fire teams Alpha and Bravo due to the fact that the con we were after was heading towards an area that satellite pictures had showed contained several ancient ruins. It was possible that the group would have to work through some tight spaces and it wasn't a good idea for me to be the only one who could do so. For the moment though, we were still in the air over the forest.

"I still wish I could have joined you rather than being stuck here under Ratchet's eye, I need to make up for the fact I was taken unawares and used for such a disgraceful reason." Steel Wing muttered over our com links.

"For the last time Steel Wing, we do not know if there are any after affects from this new stunning weapon and so you must be watched." Ratchet said sternly, and I could hear the thump of metal on metal that said that Ratchet had pushed Steel Wing back onto the seat next to his work station.

"Don't worry big guy, you'll be on the next one." I promised before I continued "Fix It, is our target still heading for the valley?" Said valley was more like a miniature gorge carved out by a two-hundred-yard-wide river that had a waterfall on one end of the gorge. It was hoped that if the Con tried to cross the valley we would be able to get a visual on it.

"Affirmative sir, the signal does not show any sign of deviating from its current course, ETA two minutes." Fix It said.

"All units, confirm overwatch position." Agent Fowler ordered.

"Alpha Team over north section." Jack answered for that squadron, grouped by the waterfall.

"Autobot Flight Over Middle Section." Arcee said, the five of us spread out over three miles high enough above the valley that the sound of our various engines wouldn't alert the target but still low enough to get a proper visual.

"Beta Team over south section." Agent Tomson reported, the other human fire team at the end of the valley where the walls of the valley rapidly dipped down evening the terrain back to relative flatness.

With everyone in position, all we had to do now was wait. A couple of minutes later, Arcee sent "Target spotted, sending visual now." All of us watched as a bright green and blue frog like Decepticon launched itself clean across the valley, landing on the side easily with at least twenty feet between it and the valley ledge before it transformed into a pickup truck and quickly continued on its way into the forest.

A few moments later Fix It came on the coms and said "Our fugitive is the escaped amphiboid, Springload. Along with powerful hindlegs and a long stretchy tongue, he has the ability to secret acid over his armor. Human word for his mental state would be "bonkers". Springload is obsessed with finding the Lost City of Doradus."

"What's that?" Miko asked.

"A fabled Cybertronian land and home to the Fountain of Energon, granting eternal power and energy to whomever finds it."

"So Fountain of Youth for robots, got it." Miko said and I could practically hear her nodding her head over the radio waves.

"Would certainly explain why he's heading for Ruins, though why he would think this Doradus is here on Earth rather than Cybertron is beyond me." I said, our teams forming back up on Arcee's position. There, we Autobots shifted into our ground vehicle modes while the two fire teams mounted up with Beta Team riding together in my Ranger truck bed as we followed the tracks Springload left from his passage.

"Like I said sir, Springload's mental state isn't the soundest, for all we know, he still believes himself to be on Cybertron." Fix It suggested.

"That sounds about right." Jack said, he and Arcee at point of our little convoy.

"Regardless of his mental state, do not take Springload lightly. Many museum personnel, historians, and law enforcement have and paid the Price." Fix It said, sending us a video clip of several Cybertronians in a museum lying on the floor groaning.

"Understood, we'll be careful." Agent Fowler said from where he was sitting on top of Bumblebee's roof, an act imitated by Miko on top of Bulkhead. While Jack would be able to easily get off of Arcee when she transformed, it would be a little more bothersome for them to get out of the vehicle forms if the bots had to transform quickly.

As we followed the trail, it was quite clear that Springload had no idea he was being followed. He went in as straight a line as the terrain allowed and he remained in his vehicle form on the ground leaving said trail when he could have been in bot mode jumping from tree to tree which while still possible to track for some would be _much_ harder and time intensive to do so.

Because of this, it only took us ten minutes at pursuit speeds to get in visual range of our target. As soon as it was in sight, Arcee kicked in her Maximum Overdrive and blasted past Springload, going into a skidding stop, Jack leaping off before she had even finished moving and hovering in the air with repulsors up and armed while Arcee transformed and held her Neo Forge out warningly as she said "Freeze Con!"

Springload skidded to a stop allowing the rest of us to Autobots to surround him and Alpha and Beta squadrons took to the air as we shifted to bot mode, an action that Springload imitated as he said "You unworthies shall not keep me from Doradus!"

"Yes we will, nets!" Arcee called out and from the three Neo Forges came blue energy nets. But before they could ensnare the fugitive Springload jumped straight up. He opened his mouth, but before he could lash out with his tongue the humans among us blasted him with their repulsor weaponry, Miko's over the shoulder rotary cannon joining in as well. Springload yelled out in pain as his body was battered from all sides before he fell back to the ground in a collapsed heap. Team Prime automatically took advantage and this time Springload was wrapped up in the energy constructs which hissed on contact with the acid armor but remained strong even as he began struggling to get free and yelling out about how they would not stop him from finding Doradus.

Giving a gesture towards Springload, Bumblebee said "Cadet, if you'd please?"

"With pleasure sir." Strongarm said and shot the Con with her Stun weapon and Springload finally fell silent, slumping down to the ground completely knocked out.

As the humans dropped down onto the ground, I grinned and said "Nicely done guys, that's three Cons in one day."

"Quite a productive day." Arcee said with a grin.

"Indeed, now let's get this frog in its tank." Agent Fowler said, and at everyone's agreement contacted Fix It with a ground bridge request. Moments later, the last of us were entering the portal leaving the rain forest behind.

END

Author's Notes: Update Schedule and Poll on Profile

No clash with Steeljaw on this one I'm afraid. In the Show, Team Bumblebee only knew that there was a meeting because Minitron had been taking Underbite out of the scrap yard to meet him. With no prisoners to bring, there was nothing hinting that the cyber-tick was working with anyone else. Also, it is my opinion that Steeljaw would either smell of hear the Autobots coming, especially if they went in flight mode and would promptly GTFO.

Originally, Rumble in the Jungle was going to start with Bumblebee and Strongarm doing the mission by themselves with me flying as overwatch just in case while they pursued Springload from the ground. But with the inclusion of True Colors making this a two episode chapter, I decided to do this a little more thoroughly. Also, Ground Bridges make things so much easier travel time wise so no damage to Ancient Historical Ruins. I'm sure the archeologists will be happy.


End file.
